Posts Tagged ‘squirrel-hunting’

Shooting Ground Squirrels – Spring Varmint Control

A beautiful spring day in the Советская Социалистическая Республика Калифорния. Spent about an hour slaughtering representative examples of the species Spermophilus beecheyi (better known as a local ground squirrel), a broadly distributed and very common rodent pest of the Western US. Animals featured in this video were definitely harmed during its production along with about 30 others that did not make the cut. Folks who are “sympathetic to animals” will not be pleased; to which I say “tough s___.”

Jennifer and Mat, over at the Crown Cattle Company, which is located near Seneca, between John Day and Burns, Oregon, are offering sage rat shooting for very reasonable rates. In this instance, reasonable means that you have the luxury of showing up from hundreds of miles away and knowing you’ll have a place to shoot squirrels. In my opinion, their rates are great, and I’d sign up in a heartbeat if I was coming in to shoot squirrels from out of the area.

If you want to shoot on their property, you need to call them at (541) 542-2608 and make a reservation before showing up. (What did I just say people? DON’T JUST SHOW UP, CALL FIRST, LIKE A PERSON WITH MANNERS!) They have a 2 page form to fill out that says if you break stuff or yourself, or shoot each other, or shoot cows, horses, chickens, or Big Foot, you will be asked to leave a check for the damages, and then, “Just Leave”!

The Cattle Company’s squirrel shooting rates are:

$35 per day per hunter Mon. – Thurs.

$45 per day per hunter Fri. – Sun.

$15 per day for hunters 12 and under.

Group rate: If there are 3 or more hunters in your party, take $5 off per hunter. (12 and under not included in group rate discount.)

SAGE RAT MOBILE: $30/day

Here are all the rules and regulation, except for the “No shooting Bigfoot type legalese from the back of the form”:

You must schedule hunting times with the owner prior to your visit.

Prior to hunting, you must sign a release form and agree to follow the hunting rules. Everyone in your party who will be on the property needs to read, sign, and place these forms in the orange box prior to hunting. Parents must sign for minor children.

You are only allowed to shoot sage rats and badgers.

Driving off roads is allowed only if ground is dry enough that you are not leaving ANY ruts. No driving is allowed on the hay meadows. You are welcome to walk in any of the designated hunting areas. No driving off roads after July 10th due to fire danger.

Do not leave any garbage, litter or ammo boxes behind. Please take it when you leave.

No shooting near horses or cattle.

No shooting around the shop, barn, houses, or corrals.

Close all gates that you open.

Drive and hunt only in the designated areas. (See map that will be provided)

Violation of these rules will get you tossed off the place, with a request never to return…

There are a couple more points I’d like to make. The above rules should be no-brainer, common sense, reality to people who shoot and/or hunt on other’s property. Please don’t make the rest of us look bad and close down another hunting area, like the Dinsdale Ranch, because you’re an ID TEN TANGO.
Here’s a map that shows where Seneca is:

Ground Squirrels cause lots of damage in pastures and crops and their holes can cripple cattle and horses. Pest control methods such as poisoning, etc. is too expensive. So, you call out the snipers to reduce the population.

I read an article put out by the Colorado State University Extension Office where they were discussing the damage and control of the Wyoming Ground Squirrel populations. Among the various control methods was, of course, shooting.

Here’s an excerpt from this article:

“Shooting

Small, isolated colonies of Wyoming ground squirrels can be effectively controlled by shooting. Shooting lowers the population by removing individuals and disrupting their life cycle. However, if there are other colonies of ground squirrels nearby, individuals from those populations will migrate into the area where squirrels are being removed. For effective control of problem ground squirrels, a population must be kept under constant shooting pressure.”

Ahh…. music to my ears! Keep them under “constant shooting pressure”. Makes me want to get out and send a few .17 HMR Hornady V-Max bullets down range!

There’s nothing like hearing the crack of the rifle and smelling the burnt gun powder out in the field! I guess if you’re going to be on crack, that’s the crack to be on.

Take a kid hunting – teach them gun safety – get them out in the field. Get ‘em hooked on the crack of rifles and pistols and you won’t find them in trouble on the streets.